Hi folks,

Alan, any problems you see after applying the update are not related
to the CD being from the first run, because after the update is applied,
all CDs are basically the same. (They only differ in the version of the
software on the CD, and by applying the update, you eliminate that
difference.)

However, there's one key difference here: with the new version, when
you start animating, you default to being in "proper motion" mode, not
the "RA/dec" animation mode. Go into "Display" and un-check the
"Direct to Screen" option, and the flashing will stop.

I made that change because the "RA/dec mode" was basically a hangover
from the days of DOS. In DOS Guide, I had no way to build up a screen
in the background and then blast it on-screen. So animation had to be
done by erasing and redrawing the moving objects. This tends to be
slow and ugly, since it can leave "garbage" behind on the screen when
the erasing isn't perfect, but it was the only way to do things in DOS
Guide. (I got tools that would have evaded this issue, but by the time
I got them, DOS was dead... the history of technology: by the time you
can do something, you no longer want to do it.)

Anyway, the "proper motion" mode is much better, because
_everything_ is redrawn. So I made it the default. (In the next update,
when you start animating, Guide will automatically be bright enough
to switch off "direct to screen".)

Incidentally, in re symbols: with the current (25 March) update, one
can also set any of the following:

ASTEROID_SYM=+17;
ASTEROID_SYM=x17;
ASTEROID_SYM=d17;
ASTEROID_SYM=b17;
ASTEROID_SYM=b17;x17;

to change the symbol to a plus-mark, x-mark, diamond, box, or
box with an x inside it of the specified size. (The previous symbols
made such marks in a more tedious manner: 'm' (move) to these
coordinates; 'l' (line) from there to these coordinates; repeat until
you have two or three lines, with a few other commands for circles
and filled regions. You can still use these, but the above commands
are slightly easier and usually enough. The new symbol commands
(and the old ones) are documented at

http://www.projectpluto.com/tdf_info.htm#custom_symbols

which may be useful if you want to, say, set the symbol for planets
to be a "happy face" or the symbol for asteroids to be a radiation trefoil.
For more normal uses, the above simpler commands ought to be enough.
Eventually, I may just provide a symbol "library" from which you can
select the one you want, or go to bitmapped symbols.)

Incidentally, I notice that the ''+' and 'x' are slightly lopsided. I
know
why, and will fix this.

Paul, about the methods for finding an occultation: the one you suggest
does have some appeal... it would at least work for non-moving objects
such as stars. There are a few other "speedup" steps that I may apply
first, though. (Guide's current method for finding occultations is somewhat
"brute force" in nature, and therefore much slower than it really ought to be.)

-- Bill